The best authors have felt the lash of their satire oftener than the worst, because they were not qualified to appreciate their merits, and there is little reliance to be had on their judgment, as it is generally influenced either by private or party motives. P. $29. "Ten thousand." By waste I mean, when that which is raised for human sustenance is thrown away, without ever being applied to that purpose. In every man of war of 64 guns, the actual waste, according to this definition, is said to amount to one-eighth of the whole provision bought for the ship's company; in every great family it is somewhat greater, and in every great inn not less. Whoever wishes to have an idea of waste, must walk the streets of London before nine o'clock in the morning, and he will see that what was raised to feed human beings, goes to feed beasts; it may be said that these beasts in return become human foodbut by œconomy all that filthy process might have been saved, and more human beings fed. P. 331. "Wretched." No man who will take the trouble to look a little about him, and to visit the dwellings of the poor, will deny that, in many situations, the produce of their labor is insufficient to enable them to procure food and clothing for their families, and that the pittance of parish relief is totally inadequate to provide them with comforts when they are sick or infirm. Their food (at least of such as cannot earn great wages), is poor and meagre, affording them little nourishment. Meat is seldom within their reach, and tea is the general substitute for more wholesome viands. Sound healthy beer or ale they never taste; but a poor, nasty, watery composition which goes by these names, tho' composed of any thing but malt and hops-for in this age of dearness and inequality, every thing that can be adulterated, is adulterated; and whence does it arise, but from the excessive earnestness of all men to be rich, even at the expence of the poor, and from the excessive respect which is paid to riches above every good quality. Tho' it will be said, that much has been done to alleviate the sufferings of the poor, yet still it must be answered, that all these things are only palliatives, affording merely temporary relief, and that they go not to the root of the evil, which exists in the disposition of the higher ranks to depress the poor, and to keep them in a state of servility and dependence; dependent certainly they ought to be, but dependent only on their labor, the price of which should always bear a just proportion to the price of provisions, for all other schemes of providing for their wants are altogether inconsistent with the principles of good government or sound political economy. I like not the watery substitutes for wholesome food, which were invented by Count Rumford, and patronized with insulting benevolence by the wealthy of all ranks. They might be sufficient to keep body and soul together, but they were a poor reward for constant labor, and patient self-denial. The lower ranks, however, are everlastingly indebted to the worthy Count, who not only invented for them the cheapest food, but by wonderful ingenuity taught them how to eat it, and found out that nourishment depends' not only on the quantity of meat, but on the time that is taken in eating it, and on the pleasure a man fancies he`. receives. Vide Essays Economical, &c. Vol. i. p. 206. 207. MATERIALS FOR THINKING. THE STATE OF SOCIETY, And the Improvements of which it is capable, impartially considered. (11 THE life of man is so full of calamities, and The difficulty exposed to so many more, that happiness, tho' constantly his aim, seems never intended to be his lot. The sources of misery are many and various; some men find them within themselves, and others in the objects which surround them, and few, even of the dullest minds, are at all times exempt from uneasiness. Gaiety and apathy of temper preserve many from suffering, and in a world where pain is so much more frequent than pleasure, they are not to be pitied; but they are most attain. Happiness. |